The News Lens
Date: 2018/05/17
By: James X. Morris 

A coalition of NGOs called “Human Rights for Migrant Fishers” held a joint rally in front of the Presidential Office Building in Central Taipei this morning to demand better enforcement of labor laws and an end to systemic abuses of migrant fishermen in Taiwan.

The demonstration, which brings several NGOs together as a group for the first time, was supplemented by a press conference at Greenpeace’s Taipei offices, and was timed to coincide with the second anniversary of Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) inauguration.

The coalition is leveraging the anniversary to push for better enforcement of the Labor Standards Act (LSA), and to protest against labor violations and abuses committed against migrant workers from countries with whom the Tsai administration is trying to foster improved relations.

A press release accompanying the rally stated that Taiwan exports fishing produce worth up to US$2 billion annually, and cited the U.S. Department of State Trafficking in Persons Report 2014 as saying that up to 160,000 migrant workers are employed in the country’s deep-sea fishing industry.    [FULL  STORY]